Thirsty Beans

Title

Shine So Bright

Problem Scenario

I want to learn during this experiment if the type of water in the soil a flower is grown in affect how bright the petals are. This could help survivalists because an edible plant that has bright flowers will attract more pollinators to it and make it grow and be eaten faster.

Broad Question:

Does the soil the plant is grown in affect how bright the flower is?

Specific Question:

Does the amount of water in the soil affect the brightness of the flower petals?

Hypothesis

I think the result of the experiment will be that the amount of water in the soil does affect the brightness of the flower petals and the flowers with less water will have duller petals. I believe this because if you have a plant that has more water, the chemicals that give it it's pigment may be produced more, making the flower brighter.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

the amount of water is in the soil

Dependent Variable:

How dull the flower petals are

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

the type of flower, soil,container,and amount of sunlight

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Anthocyanin-The chemicals in a flower that are responsible for red, pink, blue, and purple pigments in the flower
Carotenoid- The chemical in a flower that is responsible for yellow,red, and orange pigments
Chlorophyll-The chemical in a flower that is responsible for green pigments

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General Plan

The first part of the experiment will be to plant the seeds.

Potential Problems And Solutions

The potential problems would be:
1) The plant will not grow because of lack of water. The solution would be to watch the plants carefully and give them more water if needed.
2) The plant would not grow because there is too much water.The solution would be to research how much water is too much for the plant.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

A safety hazard in this experiment would that the plant I am growing may be toxic to animals

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Non-purple stem, Hairless flower	6	amazon	$12.50
Planters	6	Walmart	$1.45
Camera	one	I already have one	$75.00
Presentation Board	one	Mr.Groves	$5.00
yellow paint card samples	4	Walmart	free
soil bags	2	Lowes	$10.00

What is your experimental unit?

six plants

Number Of Trials:

I will have two trials

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

I have three subjects

Number of Observations:

14(one each day) for both trials

When data will be collected

every two days in a 14 day period

Where will data be collected?:

Data will be collected near a glass door.

Detailed Procedure

1) Put soil halfway in the cups and label them A B C D E
2) In cups B and A, put 1/3 teaspoon of water in it and plant a seed
3) In cups C and D, plant a seed normally
4) in the cup labeled E and plant a seed normally
5) Water the plants A,B,and E 1/3 of a teaspoon of water daily
6) Water plants D and C 1/4 of a teaspoon of water daily
7) Observe and take notes every two days
8) When the plants flower, compare them to the paint samples.

Diagram

Photo List

• Sprouts
• When the flower blooms
• The first day
• The last day of the experiment
• The middle of the experiment

Time Line

Start Date- February5,2013
Observation and data collecting days-Febuary 5,2013-Febuary19,2013
Graphing data- February20,2013-March1,2013
Done with wiki and conclusion- March2,2013-March15,2013
Finish display-March16,2013-March22,2013
KMS science fair- March29,2013

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Day One:Today I planted the seeds
Day Two: I began watering the seeds different amounts of water
Day Three: When I looked at the seeds before I watered them,there were no signs of growth
Day Four: No signs of growth in the seeds
Day Five: again,no signs of growth in the seeds
Day Six: Today I came to the conclusion that I over watered the seeds and they died
Day Seven: the seeds should have been half way done growing, but there were no sprouts
Day Eight: Today I ordered new seeds from amazon and got rid of the other seeds
Day Nine-Day 22 -Waited for new seeds to arrive
Day 23-Today I planted the new seeds
Day 24-There is no growth yet
Day 25-All the seeds now have sprouted
Day 26-The sprouts continue to grow
Day 27-The sprouts are continuing to grow
Day 28- the sprouts are still growing
Day 29-the sprouts are growing
Day 30-the sprouts continue to grow every day
Day 31-The seeds are still growing
Day 32-Today I watered the plants then left for the weekend
Day 34-The plants wilted a little while I was gone, but they are salvageable
Day 35-I am watering the plants but they are still wilted
Day 36-The plants died

Graphs

Photos

Results

Conclusion

This experiment had many bumps in the road. For one thing,my plants died twice and unexpectedly.Then,it took several weeks for the new ones to arrive.The thing that seemed peculiar to me is that we used the same exact seeds but had the result twice and there was a big time difference between the sets of plants.
The first thing I thought could have affected the plants is the growing environment.When I conducted the experiment, I placed the seeds in plastic cups and put them next to a glass window where I thought they could get enough sunlight. Over the course of the experiment though, we experienced bad weather and little sunlight. Also, the window was not sealed with plastic to keep out drafts so the plants could have been blasted with cold air throughout the experiment. But the environment was not the most harmful to the experiment.
Another factor that affected the experiment was the seeds themselves. The seeds I used were bought from a school science supply website and are hybrid plants. Because they are hybrid plants they can supposedly grow in 14 days, but that also means they need specific growing conditions. When I looked at the planting materials needed for the plants,the materials included a small plant greenhouse,a self-watering system, a fluorescent light system, and special growing compartments. I looked at the prices of these and found that the price for the materials(excluding the seeds) came up to $99.03.When I started the experiment I knew that the supplies that were sold by the company the seeds came from would work,but the supplies are too expensive so I improvised with plastic cups and liquid measuring cups. Also,the seeds could just not have germinated normally;I do not really think this could have happened though, because the seeds did sprout.
When I do the experiment again I would change many things. First of all I would change were the plants are located. I would do this in order to protect the plants from the cold drafts that harmed them the last time I did the experiment.Also to make a more stable climate,I could make sure that the plants are under the right kind of lighting and have an even amount of lighting.If those solutions do not help I could also try another type of flower.
(Pricing for wisconsin fast plants came from __www.carolina.com/livingorganisims/wisconsinfastplants__)

Discussion

Benefit to Community and/or Science

Background Research

For this experiment,I need to do a lot of research about how and why flowers have diffrent colored flower petals. First,I need to why plants even have flowers. The reason plants have flowers is to attract pollinators(Bees, butterflies, ect) to the plant in in order to pollinate,which is how the plant reproduces. Different flower petal colors attract different types of pollinators. If a plant is pollinated by a bird, the petals are usualy large and colorful,if it is pollinated by an insect,then the petals are usualy colorful with bright colors and ultraviolet marks that humans are not able to see.If the plant is pollinated by a bat, the flower has little color but a strong smell,the smell is stronger because a bat has little to no eyesight.

References

http://www.proflowers.com/guide/how-flowers-get-their-color

Abstract

Shine So Bright: Brighter Flowers?

Light,water,and soil are a plants basic needs. But if a plant has more water,will that affect the plant when it matures?That is what I did my experiment on,does the amount of water in the soil affect how bright the flower petals are?To test this I watered six plants different amounts then I would compare the plants to yellow paint cards that I got at the store.I did not get any flowers though so I could not carry out the comparisons between the different amounts of water. But I do think I know why I did not get the flowers. The main reason is that there were too many variables;like the environment and the seeds needed specific needs and supplies. I think the environment had a negative influence on the seeds because during the experiment we had cold drafts were the seeds were growing and there was also many days without sun during the experiment. Also,I think the seeds themselves were a roadblock for the experiment. The seeds I used for the experiment were hybrids that were first grown in a lab. Because they are hybrids they can grow in 14 days,with the right supplies. When I got the seeds,the planting instructions needed a watering system,special planters,and a lighting system. I tried to improvise by using plastic cups and natural lighting instead but it did not work. Next time, I will change the experiment to make it have less variables and maybe change the type of flower.